Half the world watched Croatia's exploits in World Cup this summer

A record number of viewers tuned into to watch the drama of this year’s World Cup in Russia and the incredible Croatian success of reaching the finals for the first time in history. According to a new report by FIFA almost half of the world’s population watched the World Cup in Russia this summer.

In total 3.57 billion viewers followed the action from Russia this summer, with an estimated 1 billion tuning in to watch the finals between France and Croatia in Moscow. Certainly priceless promotion for Croatia and due to their efforts they won the hearts of many of the viewers. In fact, the semi-final between England and Croatia was watched by 327.5 million people.

The new report also shows how viewers habits are changing with a record number of people watching the matches via digital platforms. The chief commercial officer of FIFA, Philippe Le Floc'h, commented that the figures showed that "fans everywhere are insatiable for world-class football".